To not smother my DCs in suncream?

[CantankerousCamel]

I know there is a lot of information suggesting ‘there’s is no such thing as a healthy tan’ but AIBU to think it’s gone too far the other way?

I am very lax about suncream personally (choice partly and research mostly) but everywhere I look, people seem to be smothering children in factor 50 every second of the day!

This cannot be healthy surely? Some sort of happy medium is necessary? Obviously some skin needs heavy sun cream and some needs none (I have Spanish skin and my husband is South African, neither of us or the kids have burned when being careful with staying in the shade in midday sun and popping a thin layer on/hat if needed

Why the factor 50 in May?

AIBU to think NICE should be adjusting guidelines to ward off such thick use of creams on young children? It is important for skin to experience sunlight, especially in the Northern Hemisphere and especially this time of year when moderate exposure is easier, safer and will prevent burning later on in the summer.

The thing about sun-related skin damage is that it starts very early, but you don't necessarily see the results for many years. And when you do see them, they are not just minor things like wrinkles, but can be major things like malignant melanoma.

I had my first mm at 26, after serious burning as a child/teen/young adult. That one was a grade 3 but I managed to escape serious intervention after major surgery which produced massive scarring (wide excision and skin grafts from my arse to my shoulder). The second one came when I was 52, that's only a 2" scar along my forearm, bit manky looking because they had to cut out more than they wanted to. I'm now 57, and probably looking at another one (waiting for appt now).

At the same time, we have a friend who has a grade 4 melanoma, spread to brain and bowel so far. Maximum life expectancy 5 years.

PLEASE USE THE SUN CREAM!!!!

I'm not OTT with it, if I'm in the office all day then I get exposure on a 5/10 min break and I don't have body suncream on but I will have SPF on my face
If I'm outside walking or riding and the UV is high then suncream on
If I'm going out at 5pm to do care work so in and out the car, no body suncream but face SPF on

Yanbu. We do use factor 50 on our DD but only if we are out all day in the sun (such as the lovely weekend we have just had) but if just out in the garden for half hour or so its a sun hat or under the garden brolley for shade, some exposure to early morning sun is good for the skin. I would never send DD out after 11am without sun cream (except school but only because I not there to put it on, and DD wouldn’t remember anyway and school are not allowed to put it on, but she does take a hat) each to their own as long as they are sensible (some children are more prone to burning than others) SUN SAFE!! 🌞

Every time I read this kind of thread I feel puzzled. It's not really about if your dcs get burnt or not. It's about the damage caused by the sun long term, and unknown effect on individual children in years/decades later. I know you still get tan even if the weather is cloudy. I know you can still get uv rays through the window. People who says they survived fine as a child years ago without protections, environment is changing. What happens to our children in 20 years time, we don't know. But if you want to risk it, it's all up to you.

Again, suggesting that people spend a small amount of time in the morning without being covered in suncream, is not ‘risking skin cancer’

It is hardly surprising that vit D levels are so woeful, when you look at the people on this thread. So much fear of allowing even a few minutes of sun on the skin.

This is not good for the body and not good for children . I understand some people have fair skin and hair, but we are talking about 8/9//10am, not late in the day when people bake themselves.

when you look at the people on this thread. So much fear of allowing even a few minutes of sun on the skin.

If your vitamin D levels are low, you can take vitamin D supplements. If your skin is damaged by the sun, there is no supplement to reverse it. You think there is more risk associated with avoiding sun exposure: many people disagree with you.

Maybe all 3 of my light skinned, blue eyed, fair/ red haired, freckled/ moley dc with a family history of skin cancer would be just fine going out in the summer months without sunscreen before 10am and after 4pm. But the only way to find out would be to send them out and hope they don't burn. And as dh and I would, and have, burned before 10am and after 4pm when UV levels are high, they probably would, too.

You are just going to have to accept that a lot of people do not agree with you.

I don't know, people can interpret as they like. I don't think no one is disputing small amount of time exposed to the sun.
I am not white/pale skinned. Yet my parents told me the danger of sun exposure 30 years ago, and told me to use sun screen even it's cloudy. Now I have very nice skin, I look 10+ years younger, and nobody believe my age.

It is hardly surprising that vit D levels are so woeful, when you look at the people on this thread. So much fear of allowing even a few minutes of sun on the skin.

I take a multivitamin because it's very hard to get the complete daily RDA of all vitamins and minerals through diet alone, so I supplement with a basic multivitamin to provide a boost. My vitamin D levels are in perfect range whenever they've been tested as part of other bloodwork

No one is stopping you from choosing whether or not to use sun cream on you or your kids

I choose to use spf 50 facial sunscreen every day because I want to minimise sun damage. I can't undo the damage done by sun exposure when I was younger, but I can choose to take action now in my 30s. I use sunscreen as directed by a consultant dermatologist, so I'm happy to take her recommendation given her professional experience and qualifications in matters pertaining to skin health

You're totally right. A bit of sun exposure every day is important. I don't go mad about sunscreen either and only ever use a mineral cream. Dousing your kids in chemicals is worse than the supposed cancer risk.

I use sunscreen only on hot days when they're out getting a lot of sun, picnics holidays etc. I also prefer to use a hat and t-shirt than cream and never put anything on the legs.

We spend the summers in Italy and no one fusses there. Over the summer she builds up a light colour but never gets burned and I'm careful to protect the skin during the ferocious heat of the middle of the day.

I think you're absolutely right not to go mad with factor 50. Kids here are probably vitamin d deficient already!

Different skin tones have differing abilities regards VIT D!! Very pale, especially ginger ppl need barely any sun for VIT D levels to be sufficient!

Sort your own kids and let the rest of us manage our own. I have, as I said, have to sun cream my 3 differently as 2 of them need more sun, one is a barely any!! 2 of them almost never burn and one has to be super careful!

Yes I let them have some sun at weekends without cream. Weekdays, no, it’s applied before school on days of high UV. Is that your business? Nope.

Yolofish - wishing you lots of luck. You have had a tough time 🌸🌸

I'll be honest op I had never thought about it that way.
I have skin that tans easily and have only in the last few years switched up from factor 15 to 30.

I do the back of the boys necks and ears for school but on weekend day will put it on after we've got up/dressed etc but kids will of been outside in the morning without.

It's only if we go abroard they get smothered first thing and after swimming. But obviously that's different to UK sun.

thank you Annette - I'm fine!

I am astounded by some of the stupidity that people show... but then I guess there are lots of areas of like like that and I can probably be very stupid too. Just not about sun protection.

dousing your kids in chemicals is worse than the supposed cancer risk

i hope the anti chemical dumbos dont extend that fear to dihydrogen monoxide. their kids will get very smelly if they do...

I'm not hijacking or flaming, just genuinely curious- what age is best to start exposing kids to a small amount of sun? I only ask because I have older children and teenagers, and when they were small it was all about smattering them in Suncream so that's what I did. I now have a 4mo, 11 yrs after my last was born, and have managed to successfully bf this one, but with that also comes the next to no vitD that bottle feds get! Both me and my DP are British but have naturally tanned skin. I will find shade, use a hat and put sun cream on DD during the 11-3/4 times, and keep an eye on UV levels but have let her have 10 mins a day around 9am, then about 7pm. She hasn't even a slight pink to her skin. HV, amazing as she is, has been no help as she just says use factor 50! I wouldn't expose her to high UV levels though.

Tiredmummy the advice is to give vitamin D drops from birth now.

I definitely think my pale blue dds benefit from sun exposure. Dd1 (8) has only ever had a tiny bit of sunburn once on her foot through a flower shaped sandal which caught Dh out with the pattern and dd2 (3) hasn't burned yet and they are out every day in the summer (farm). I don't slather them in cream in the morning but either keep them in the shade midday til mid afternoon or put a layer of cream on if they are 'going feral' but early morning and evening I'm not as strict unless the sun is really strong. I'm allergic to suncream apart from aloe Vera so that's a bugger

Not being very unreasonable. The obsession with suncream was one of the strangest things I experienced while living in the UK. I grew up in an area of Canada with very hot summers with high UV ratings and never wore anything above 30. 50 was always reserved for holidays close to the equator (literally). The UK is so far north that the sun is hardly "full-on" compared to a lot of other places.
I think wearing it is really a case-by-case day-by-day decision.
DS spent his infancy and early toddler years in the UK almost never wearing suncream (only on the odd very clear days when we were outside a lot) but now that we're back in Canada for a while I do put 45 on him (only because he has very sensitive skin and I haven't been able to find gentle 'baby' cream in less than 45. I'm confident 30 is more than enough). I feel sometimes like it's a bit of overkill but since he has never had exposure to this much sun I'm hedging my bets.

Remember that the number on the bottle isn't truly indicative of how much sun it blocks (50 only blocks 1% more UVB rays than 30). It's more indicative of how much TIME you can spend in the sun before you burn and it needs to be reapplied every 2hours regardless of the strength of the cream (or every 80 minutes in the water).
Also remember that the heat of the day doesn't necessarily mean the UV rays are higher. You can burn just as quickly on a 15 degree day as a 25 degree day if the UV index is high (you can usually look up your UV index online). One of the worst burns I ever got on my face was a sunny winter day, skiing. I didn't think about wearing suncream in January.

We live near the beach (UK). The number of burnt people - adults, children - I see every summer is absolutely shocking. Burning HURTS; why would anyone allow that to happen to a young child, let alone themselves? When you could slap on a hat, long clothes, and lots of sunscreen for when they strip off. And a healthy tan is just a sign of early onset sun damage - your kid could be lucky and just get wrinkles or perhaps basal cell carcinoma. Or they could be unlucky, and end up with melanoma, which is disfiguring at best, fatal at worst.

TIRED I let my 10 month old have 5/10 mins nappy off time in the sunshine every day :-)

Probably about 8/9am

YOLO

Definitely on the beach. Mind you I find the whole culture of sitting on the beach with no shade in the baking sun all day totally bizarre.

DS1 does not burn easily. DS2, me and DH do burn easily so we wear more suncream, hats and cover shoulders.

It's about UV levels and skin type more than temperature. That's why people get such a tanned face when skiing in cold weather.

ffs, some serious fuckwittery here. it is under four weeks to peak u v. temperature is irrelevant, do you dumbos think it gets hotter because the sun moves closer?

The sun does not move closer in the summer. First the sun does not move, it is earth that does (ref to Gallieo). Second the change in seasons is to do with the earth being tilted on its axis relative to the sun.

The northern hemisphere becomes tilted towards to sun causing the intensity of the Sun's rays to increase. Also, there is a general relationship between heat (infrared) and UV radiation as both come from the sun. But atmospheric conditions (wind and moisture) can affect the temperature that is felt.

I agree about people wanting absolutes is not possible here. Skin tolerance to sunlight is highly individual and a one-sided fits all solution isn't possible.

But this devotion to factor 50 is unnecessary. Factor 30 does the job as well. Spf 30 blocks 96.7% of uvb while spf 50 blocks 98%. The difference is negligible really.

www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/sun-protection/preventing-skin-cancer/spf50sunscreen.html

yes, I know that! but the wilfully ignorant on here still think uv strength is related to air temperature.

time of year, latitude, time of day, altitude. those who dont understand should not be responsible for children. and hope they dont take them skiing. it is cold up a mountain but you can still get sunburnt. difficult stuff I know...